GLAAD - Mel Whitehttp://www.glaad.org/tags/mel-white
enInterview with Luke Adams from The Amazing Race 14http://www.glaad.org/2009/05/27/interview-with-luke-adams-from-the-amazing-race-14
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The latest season of the Emmy-winning reality competition <em><strong>The Amazing Race</strong></em> proved to be one of the most LGBT-friendly ever, featuring gay/deaf finalist <strong>Luke Adams</strong>, who competed against lesbian <strong>Kisha Hoffman</strong> and her sister, and gay activist <strong>Mel White</strong> and his bisexual screenwriter son, <strong>Mike</strong>.</p>
<!--more--><div style="width: 267px;float:right;"><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/855_large.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-9252" title="Luke Adams" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/855_large-257x300.jpg" alt="The Amazing Luke" width="257" height="300" /></a>
<p>The Amazing Luke</p>
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<p>Traveling over 40,000 miles across nine countries, twenty-three year old Luke and his mom, Margie, came just shy of winning the million dollar grand prize, finishing in third place, but they succeeded in winning over a number of fans in the LGBT community. glaadBLOG was lucky enough to talk to Luke recently about his experience as an openly gay deaf contestant on one of the most popular reality shows on TV.</p>
<p><em><strong>Hi Luke! Thanks for reaching out to GLAAD to share your story!</strong></em></p>
<p>No problem! I’m excited about it! </p>
<p><em><strong>Other than the million dollars, what was your motivation for competing on the race?</strong></em></p>
<p>To have a once in a lifetime experience. I have always wanted to travel around the world. It was like an ideal vacation to me and the best part was it's a free trip around the world!</p>
<p><em><strong>How do you feel your deafness affected you during the race?</strong></em></p>
<p>To some extent, I was paranoid at some points because I had no idea what exactly was going on around me so I had to rely on my mom for the information. Also, my mom couldn't mention every detail because its easier for her to point the main ones, so it was little tough for me to be not aware and it made my social game little harder. It also affected which detour tasks we could do.</p>
<p><em><strong>Were you disappointed to have not been identified as gay on the show?</strong></em></p>
<p>Yes and no. I mean, it is a part of who I am. I don't want people to get the wrong idea that I’m ashamed of my sexual orientation. I'm proud of being a gay man. It’s just that CBS chose to focus on my deafness as my main storyline. I was pretty out to everyone on the show though. </p>
<p><em><strong>What challenges have you encountered as a gay and deaf person who can’t read lips?</strong></em></p>
<p>Well, not a lot of dating options! Not a lot of gay guys know sign language and the gay and deaf community is pretty small so the dating pool shrinks for me, haha! There's an old fashioned way to do it, with a pen and notepad - write on pad back and forth. But sometimes guys find it awkward because they're not used to that kind of communication method.</p>
<p>I have heard several comments from people, like "wow, you're deaf and you're gay too? That must be really hard for you!" Really, it hasn’t been hard on me, being a gay and deaf man. I don't feel anything differently. People treat me the same as others. I'm a human being like everyone else.</p>
<p><em><strong>As a member of such a small community, do you feel a greater sense of responsibility now that you've attained a degree of fame?</strong></em></p>
<p>Yeah, that’s how I felt right before going into that final challenge. I knew that the community would be so thrilled to have my mom and me winning the whole race so I felt like a big weight was on my shoulder as we showed up at the surfboard challenge. I didn't want to blow it and let them down. </p>
<div style="width: 310px;float:left;"><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/amazingrace17.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-9251 " title="Luke Adams" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/amazingrace17-300x200.jpg" alt="Luke takes a colorful &quot;Detour&quot; in India" width="300" height="200" /></a>
<p>Luke takes a colorful "Detour" through India</p>
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<p><strong><em>But even making it to the finals, you’ve become a huge inspiration to a lot of people even though you didn’t win.</em></strong></p>
<p>Yeah, I know. I just thought that winning the race would make a big impact you know? We’ve never had a deaf person win a reality show before so I thought it would open people's eyes, but a lot of people are saying it did anyway.</p>
<p><em><strong>Were you familiar with Mel and Mike’s work before the Race?</strong></em></p>
<p>No, I had no idea who they were! My mom asked me to see if I had seen <em>School of Rock</em> and I said, “isn’t that a music movie?” She said yeah then I was like, “obviously, I didn't watch it because I don’t listen to music.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><em>So what’s next for you?</em></strong></p>
<p>I am not sure yet. Trying to figure it out what to do with my life. I would like to travel little more. It would be awesome if I could be a spokesperson and make a difference in people's lives </p>
<p><strong><em>Well I think you're well on your way to doing that!</em></strong></p>
<p>I hope so!<br /></p><div align="left">
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">May 27, 2009</span></div></div></div>
<div class="field field-name-field-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/entertainment">Entertainment</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/cbs">CBS</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/emmy">Emmy</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/kisha-hoffman">Kisha Hoffman</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/luke-adams">Luke Adams</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/mel-white">Mel White</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/mike-white">Mike White</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/amazing-race-1">The Amazing Race</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:16:14 +0000glaad32015 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/2009/05/27/interview-with-luke-adams-from-the-amazing-race-14#commentsAfterElton interviews Luke and Margie from The Amazing Race 14http://www.glaad.org/2009/05/12/afterelton-interviews-luke-and-margie-from-the-amazing-race-14
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Our friends over at <em><strong>AfterElton</strong></em> posted a great <a href="http://www.afterelton.com/TV/2009/5/amazing-race-margie-luke">interview</a> this morning with <strong>Luke Adams</strong>, the competitive gay and deaf contestant who place third with his mom, <strong>Margie</strong>, on <em><strong>The Amazing Race 14</strong></em>.</p>
<!--more--><div style="width: 310px;float:right;"><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tarluke9.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8798 " title="Luke Adams" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/tarluke9-300x170.jpg" alt="Luke and Margie should've won!" width="300" height="170" /></a>
<p>Luke and Margie should've won!</p>
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<p>During the sit down, Luke sheds some light on why he was never identified as gay on the show:</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote><p><strong>AE: Luke, from our <a href="http://www.afterelton.com/people/2009/4/melwhite">interview with Mel White</a>, we understand you are openly gay and wanted to be identified as such, but the <em>TAR </em>producers didn't want to. Do you feel they missed out on a chance to represent an extremely under-represented segment of the gay and lesbian community? <br />
LA</strong>: CBS didn't want to add too many labels, a gay this or a gay that. Mel and Mike were very open about being gay, that was their team. I think the focus on my team with my mom was the fact that I was deaf, not that I was gay. I think they didn't want to confuse people by adding too many labels to me. <br /><strong>MA</strong>: [laughs] There are a lot of labels that could be on him!<br /><strong>LA</strong>: A lot of people have misconceptions that I <em>like </em>Cara and Jamie, and that's not true. We're friends, of course, but my interest in them is not like that. [laughs]</p></blockquote>
<p>Margie also relates the touching story of how Luke came out to her and tries to find her son a boyfriend. Something tells me Luke should have better luck in that department now that he's known and beloved to millions of devoted <em>Race</em> watchers across America!<br /></p><div align="left">
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">May 12, 2009</span></div></div></div>
<div class="field field-name-field-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/entertainment">Entertainment</a></li>
</ul>
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<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/afterelton">AfterElton</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/luke-adams">Luke Adams</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/margie-adams">Margie Adams</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/mel-white">Mel White</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/amazing-race-1">The Amazing Race</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:16:10 +0000glaad31976 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/2009/05/12/afterelton-interviews-luke-and-margie-from-the-amazing-race-14#commentsQueer Father/Son Duo to Compete on Amazing Racehttp://www.glaad.org/2009/01/26/queer-fatherson-duo-to-compete-on-amazing-race
<div class="field field-name-field-blog-featured field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Longtime gay activist <strong>Mel White</strong> (the founder of <a href="http://www.soulforce.org/">Soulforce</a>) will compete with his bisexual son <strong>Mike White</strong> (a successful screenwriter/actor/producer) on the next season of <em>The Amazing Race</em>, <a href="http://www.afterelton.com/blog/brianjuergens/soulforce-founder-rev-dr-mel-white-son-mike-white-amazing-race-14">AfterElton reports.</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/melwhitemikewhite.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6123" title="melwhitemikewhite" src="http://glaadblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/melwhitemikewhite-290x300.jpg" alt="" width="290" height="300" /></a>"Rev. Dr. White was once a ghostwriter for Jerry Falwell before coming out as gay and parting ways with the homophobic evangelical church. (His story is told in the documentary <em>Friends of God </em>and in his book <em>Stranger at the Gate</em>.) He is currently married to his husband, Soulforce co-head Gary Nixon. White's son, Mike, is known for appearing in movies like the brilliantly unsettling <em>Chuck &amp; Buck </em>(which he also wrote), <em>School of Rock</em> (which he also wrote), and <em>The Good Girl </em>(which he wrote). He also wrote and directed <em>Year of the Dog</em> (starring Molly Shannon) and was one of the forces behind the shortly-lived fan fave series <em>Freaks &amp; Geeks</em> (in which he also briefly appeared)."</p>
<p><em>The Amazing Race 14</em> will premiere on CBS Feb. 15, 2009.<br /></p><div align="left">
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pubdate field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">January 26, 2009</span></div></div></div>
<div class="field field-name-field-issues field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/issues/entertainment">Entertainment</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-inline clearfix clearfix">
<div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div>
<ul class="field-items">
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/cbs">CBS</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/mel-white">Mel White</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/mike-white">Mike White</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item odd"><a href="/tags/reality-tv">Reality TV</a>, </li>
<li class="field-item even"><a href="/tags/amazing-race-1">The Amazing Race</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:15:35 +0000glaad31682 at http://www.glaad.orghttp://www.glaad.org/2009/01/26/queer-fatherson-duo-to-compete-on-amazing-race#comments